Posted on February 18th, 2008 by Clarkey.
Everybody can have an off day. Seemingly everything collating to go wrong, and normally coming just before an important day in your life. WWE New Years Revolution 2007 could be labelled as one of these days for the WWE; it was (in hindsight) an unnecessary extra burden on the roster as one of the addition PPV’s of time, and with one of the WWE’s prime events of the year forthcoming (The Royal Rumble), it was always going to be thought of as an afterthought and extra load on weight of the shoulders of in this case the Raw roster. Following along the lines of Smackdown’s incarnation of The Great American Bash (sigh), and the frankly awful WWECW solo PPV of the previous month, December to Remember, this was the Raw rosters chance to fly solo and fill a PPV card with it’s own brand of entertainment. Just as was the problem with other solo branded shows on the whole, there just wasn’t enough talent to compensate and lead overall to a mixed bunch of both missed opportunities and varied eyesores. The move back to cross branded PPV’s has bucked the trend, as has the WWE’s other wise move of cutting back on excess weight on the PPV side, to prevent over-egging the product. It was no surprise to see this become the last ever NYR PPV; a short existence and not a particularly memorable one to be frank.
Posted on January 20th, 2008 by Clarkey.
Cactus, Mankind, Dude Love, and just plain old lovable Mick; there are few reasons to dislike Mrs Foley’s precious baby boy. Some great reads in the form of his autobiographies, packed to the hilt with funny anecdotes and interesting tales from the road, many would settle for this alone and take it to the bank. But then you have the actual wrestling side of Mick’s career and all the peaking moments in ring showcasing his daredevil side and talent to tell a story not only in his own words but also by expression via his art.
Posted on December 6th, 2007 by Clarkey.
How long did it take you in your life to decide what you were put on this world for, and which profession you would undertake upon leaving the security of the family nest? Some would wager they still haven’t found the job to suit them and are still running on empty, toiling through their office job or flipping burgers at the nearest fast food joint until it comes along. Hard work and graft obviously plays a part and one must seek what they wish rather than sitting waiting for it, but sometimes that role does just bite you on the rear at the right moment. This leads to it dawning that the role was your true calling, leaving the rest of your time in the working world pretty much redundant. Batista Unleashed can be surmised in this vain, and is the candidly honest tale of the path that resulted in Dave Bautista finding himself within the wrestling world at the age of 30; coming into the industry late after a eventful life up until his big break.
Posted on November 17th, 2007 by Clarkey.
Quite obviously the best thing about the ‘Tagged Classics’ series of DVD’s is that for a inviting price you get to relive and bask in some decent nostalgia from two back to back PPV affairs from consecutive years, or if not enlightened by the featured events before gives you the chance to experience what either your youthful self regrettably missed, or for other reasons you weren’t tuned to the TV set or setting the VCR the first time around. When you couple this with the inclusion of an event featuring one of the defining moments in the World Wrestling Federations history, and a crux point in the Monday Night Wars of way back when; then it makes this package doubly exciting. Of course that event is the heel turn of the Goldust, shunning his countries needs and more importantly a tag from Vader to walk out and set foot on a new trail to glory. Yes I kid, but this review does seem to be a minefield waiting for the words ‘screw’ and ‘job’ to rear their heads and it to cloud over the rest of what is on offer here.
Posted on November 14th, 2007 by Clarkey.
Last year those that choose to take the 360 route into this generation of gaming got their first taste of the Smackdown Vs Raw franchise, bringing with it the salivating prospect of Xbox Live frolics, shiny new graphics and a new gaming engine to move the series forward and to set a marker for the future of the series. Now one of these things did not bare fruit, and it is still leading to growing apathy amongst the aggrieved wrestling games fans. So now we sit with the next instalment, again with the same prospects and again with all of the boxes ticked except the still creaking engine.
Posted on November 7th, 2007 by Clarkey.
There have been a ton of better matches. There have been a great deal of better under cards. Better wrestlers have existed and plied their craft. Hell, there have been better wrestling events as a whole if we were to get nitpicky. But as a spectacle, few nights can beat the third annual Wrestlemania.
Posted on January 2nd, 2007 by Clarkey.
The word definitive is bandied around a great deal at this time of year. On Christmas Day I’m sure many excitedly unwrapped their gifts, eagerly awaiting their copy of a definitive Cliff Richard collection after just finishing listening to Slade on their definitive Christmas hits collection. But when a title such as Total Extreme Wrestling rears its head for another outing, it would not be out of place to utilise the word again. Admittedly it is in a field of it’s own, but to knock Grey Dog Software’s efforts because of a lack of a rival in the same mould is sheer laziness from the uninitiated.
Posted on November 25th, 2006 by Clarkey.
Wrestling fans that chose to follow the Microsoft path in the past generation were pretty much hamstrung from the starting line. The Raw titles did not live up to the hype built, with the original Raw lacking a story mode being particularly gutting. Wrestlemania 21 being released filled with more bugs than there will be consumed in the latest “I’m A Celebrity” affair did it and the Xbox owners no favours. But I have always been of the feeling that if someone was to take the good aspects of the previous Xbox titles, we would lead to something that could very well challenge the likes of the Days of Reckoning titles on the shamefully neglected Gamecube, and a certain Smackdown series on the Playstation. So to get right to the point and move away from a David Starkey style prologue, I was slightly disappointed when THQ took the step of releasing their Smackdown franchise across formats. I have always been of the opinion that despite their faults, that if someone was to take the more interesting ideas of Anchor and Studio Gigante and comprise them into one singular title, a third franchise worth a gander would be added to the fold. Akin to the return of ECW under a WWE mantra, instead of something new or a return of a past glory (cough No Mercy) we are instead getting more of the same in a new outfit. Whether this title will stoke your interest beyond the allure of a wrestling title for your 360 console is dependant on where your feelings lie with the previous titles in the Smackdown series. For what has been added to this edition, the series is still creaking from a tiring engine in need of a complete rejig, and it does not hit the peak of the Smackdown series in ‘Here Comes The Pain’. Despite this, SD VS Raw 2007 is still a very good game both for Wrestling fanatics, and those new to the mat antics as it brings some new features that add more variety and depth to proceedings that have been long overdue in the Smackdown franchise.
Posted on November 6th, 2006 by Clarkey.
Unless you have lived in an underground bunker with no Internet access or contact with the real world, you will not have failed to hear about the good work achieved by Adam Ryland and his cohorts at Grey Dog software. Famous for their EWR and TEW titles, Grey Dog has honed the Text-based wrestling simulation genre and even despite having relatively no competition it hasn’t blighted all that they have accomplished, creating their own niche in the market and remaining there for a good while. They have earned their kudos quite rightly, but there is only so far one can take the idea of booking a wrestling promotion until they seek something new. Grey Dog were already ahead of us, and last year released a new take on the text-based wrestling simulation genre in the form of Wrestling Spirit. Rather than booking matches, the game focused instead on taking hold of the career of a Professional wrestler themselves, with the toils and benefits the life brings. Wishing to take the niche further, here arrives the sequel; but will it succeed in providing an alternative reality for the gamer in the boots of a wrestler, or just prove to be EWR with a fancy outfit.
